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Tampa Catholic Going For Another First

Tribune photo by KATHERINE SMITH

Tampa Catholic girls basketball coach Nancy Kroll talks with her team after practice.

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By KATHERINE SMITH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 23, 2009

Updated: 02/24/2009 05:13 pm

TAMPA - Nancy Kroll finds herself slipping into the role of a spectator sometimes.

During games this season, there have been times she's forgotten that she's the Tampa Catholic coach. When her team is on, Kroll becomes like anyone else in the stands, simply in awe of the show on the court.

"There are times I'm like, 'Wow, that's really good,'" Kroll said.

Tampa Catholic has been really good this season; in fact, better than any Crusaders girls basketball team in school history. On Saturday, the team won its first region championship, becoming the first Crusaders girls team to advance to the final four.

Now they're prepared to make it to their first state championship game. First Tampa Catholic (28-2) has to get past Miramar Parkway Academy (30-3), Wednesday's Class 3A semifinal opponent at The Lakeland Center.

What has set the Crusaders apart from opponents this season and gotten them to this point is their game speed. They're hard to keep up with and that's by design. To get to this level, the team began working out this past summer, including a two-week camp at USF where they played non-stop basketball. They also brought in a personal trainer to help with conditioning. That hard work has paid off.

At full speed, they have multiple scoring weapons, including three players averaging double digits - junior Colette Eule (19.9), junior Sarah Brennan (16.6) and freshman Micah Kroll (12.2).

The girls were back at USF on Monday, practicing on the Sun Dome court in preparation for Wednesday's game.

"It was like being a star. I felt the star quality," senior guard Annie Dziagwa said. "It was nice to see all the seats around, which is different because our gym is just two-sided. It was a different feel, which is good to know what it feels to play on a court like that because that's what Lakeland will be like."

Tampa Catholic plans to fill the seats in Lakeland. The school is releasing students early to give them time to make the trek to witness history in the making.

"I realize we're in the final four and it's a big deal, but I don't think it's really, really sunk in," Eule said. "I think Wednesday when the whole school gets out early and we're on the bus over, I think it will sink in then."

Reporter Katherine Smith can be reached at (813) 259-7860.

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